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It’s the last, final desperate measure for Jason and Rod Rodziewicz of Alliance Electrical Wholesalers.
Plagued by shocking phone and internet service since the NBN was installed, they have resorted to putting a large sign outside their Wentworth Falls shop.
It reads: Telstra + NBN = Disaster.
And disastrous it has been, said Jason.
“When the new modem and VOIP [voice over internet protocol] device was connected to my network, it stole the IP address of our main server which crashed the entire internal computer network.
“It pretty much crippled our business instantly. We had no EFTPOS, Wi-Fi, no computers or printers.
“Everything that we need to run a business was automatically shot in the arse. We had a full 12 hours of turning customers away.”
The brothers had to get their own technician - at their own expense - to reassign their IP addresses.
Since then, they have dealt with phone lines which keep dropping out, customers unable to get through because their calls aren’t ringing in the shop and, at various times, interruptions to EFTPOS machines, the internet, emails and faxes.
And all for nearly three months, since January 9, when a “straightforward installation” and a “seamless change” was promised.
“It’s an absolute joke, they are just hopeless,” said Jason. “And if we treated our customers like they do we’d be out of business.”
They have repeatedly complained and technicians have been out to investigate, to no avail.
Rod said: “We’ve lost a heap of business and we don’t even know how much because we don’t know how many people haven’t been able to get through.”
He believed if they hadn’t been in the business for so long and had many loyal clients, “we would have been crippled by now”.
Jason said the idea for the sign – and he has vowed to add more as long as the problems continue – was born of utter frustration.
“We’re been backed into a corner and we’re coming out swinging.”
His brother added: “If we don’t do anything about it how can we get it fixed? Our business can’t run like this.”
The brothers have made an official complaint to the telecommunications ombudsman as well as to Telstra.
Telstra’s area general manager, Tricia Wilson, made a statement to the Gazette.
“This continues to be a really complicated issue to investigate and repair and we understand the time it has taken has been frustrating.
“We’ve apologised to Mr Rodziewicz. This is not the experience we want for our customers.
“The team of engineers we have on this are working through a process of elimination as a matter of priority.
“We will continue to work closely with Mr Rodziewicz and his team to restore a stable and reliable service as soon as we can.”
